The present invention relates to a people mover having a drive apparatus.
Examples of conventional people movers covered by the sphere of application of the present invention are escalators and moving sidewalks, in which the motion may take place in a horizontal plane or in an inclined direction.
Escalators are driven by a motor located at the upper or lower end of the escalator, driving the drive sprocket of the escalator by means of a gear, belts or chains. The drive sprocket is provided with a toothing designed to engage the step chains of the escalator.
Previously known escalator drive machines require a large space and have a complicated construction. Usually there is a fairly long machine space at one end of the escalator. This increases the total length of the escalator, making it more difficult to accommodate the escalator in the building and taking up building space. An example of such an escalator is found in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,131, in which the machinery is placed at the upper end of the escalator. When a smaller total length of the escalator structure is desired, this will easily result in a close machine space at the end of the escalator and therefore more difficult installation and maintenance. The specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,044 presents an escalator in which the machinery is placed inside the step track. In this solution, the machinery does not require any extra space at the ends of the escalator. However, because of this placement, the machinery is more difficult to access.